Department for Education

Schools: Rural Areas

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received on funding for rural schools; and if she will make a statement.

Mr David Laws: Since June 2014, Ministers in the Department for Education have received 5 letters and have had one meeting with an MP on the subject of funding for rural schools.The Government recognises the importance of rural schools, many of which are small schools, and the need to maintain access to a local school in rural areas. The Department has enabled local authorities and Schools Forums to support small rural schools by allowing funding to be allocated via a ‘sparsity factor’. Sparsity funding is additional funding given to small schools serving pupils who would have to travel a long distance to any alternative school.In addition, the Department has recently made an additional £390 million available to the least fairly funded local authorities through the introduction of minimum funding levels. Many local authorities with small rural schools have benefited from this policy, and will see increases in their per-pupil funding.

Teachers: Bolton

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many unqualified teachers are employed in schools in Bolton.

Mr David Laws: In November 2013 (the most recent available figures), there were 35 full-time equivalent teachers without qualified teacher status (QTS) working in publicly-funded schools in the Bolton local authority area. This represents 1.4% of teachers employed in the local authority. This information is based on returns from 125 of the 126 schools in the Bolton local authority area. Further information on the proportion of qualified teachers working in every local authority, and for England as a whole, can be found in the School Workforce in England Statistical First Release, November 2013, published online at:www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013

Schools: Solar Power

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to enable schools to run on solar power; and if she will make a statement.

Mr David Laws: This Government is committed to helping schools become greener and more energy efficient. That is why we have supported the launch of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) solar photovoltaic strategy for schools and will continue to work with DECC to promote further their strategy across the schools sector.

Teachers: Greater Manchester

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many chemistry teachers in each parliamentary constituency in Greater Manchester have a chemistry degree.

Mr David Laws: The information requested is not available by parliamentary constituency. Unlike the Department for Education’s response to written parliamentary question 218919, any count would have to rely on linking two samples of teachers for qualifications held and curriculum taught. Any estimate based on the small numbers of chemistry teachers employed in each parliamentary constituency would be unreliable.

Teachers: Greater Manchester

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school teachers in each parliamentary constituency in Greater Manchester have a science degree.

Mr David Laws: The following table provides the headcount number and percentage of all regular teachers[1] in service in primary schools in each constituency in Greater Manchester with a degree in a science subject in November 2013. This is the latest information available. Name of ConstituencyNumber of teacherswith science degree[2]Number of teachers with a qualification recorded[3]Percentage with a sciencequalification Confidence interval[4]Percentage of teachers with qualificationrecordedAltrincham and Sale West313828.1+/-2.788.2Ashton-under-Lyne234155.5+/-2.295.0Blackley and Broughton475738.2+/-2.296.0Bolton North East364168.7+/-2.798.8Bolton South East425168.1+/-2.498.5Bolton West264046.4+/-2.499.0Bury North303558.5+/-2.988.1Bury South3936810.6+/-3.184.8Cheadle294376.6+/-2.398.2Denton and Reddish183684.9+/-2.294.6Hazel Grove213166.6+/-2.798.4Heywood and Middleton484859.9+/-2.798.0Leigh4134012.1+/-3.596.3Makerfield243247.4+/-2.995.9Manchester Central336105.4+/-1.896.5Manchester, Gorton384947.7+/-2.398.0Manchester, Withington283887.2+/-2.697.0Oldham East and Saddleworth334737.0+/-2.389.6Oldham West and Royton365057.1+/-2.287.5Rochdale454989.0+/-2.595.0Salford and Eccles253796.6+/-2.594.5Stalybridge and Hyde314327.2+/-2.497.3Stockport313788.2+/-2.897.2Stretford and Urmston353859.1+/-2.980.2Wigan273048.9+/-3.289.4Worsley and Eccles South4242210.0+/-2.989.0Wythenshawe and Sale East304416.8+/-2.492.6Total Greater Manchester88911,4167.8+/-0.593.7Total England18,795227,5138.3+/-0.1  Note: Figures are as reported in School Workforce Census, they have not been scaled up. Source: School Workforce Census [1] Includes qualified and unqualified teachers.[2] Includes teachers with a first or higher science degree but excluding those with a science PGCE where no record of a science degree exists and those with a BEd in sciences.[3] Those recorded with a qualification in any subject (the total in the sample from which the rate is calculated).[4] The range within which we can be 95% confident that the true value exists.

HM Treasury

Administration of Justice: Fees and Charges

Charlie Elphicke: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual saving to the Exchequer from the introduction of fees for (a) employment tribunals, (b) judicial review and (c) criminal courts.

Priti Patel: The Government estimates that the introduction of fees for proceedings before the Employment Tribunals will generate approximately £9 million per annum from 2014/15 net of fee remissions.The increases to fees for Judicial Review were part of a package of reforms to fees in the civil courts introduced in April 2014 to bring the fees closer to cost recovery. We estimate the fees for judicial review might contribute around £2million to this package, subject to the effect of fee remissions.   The introduction of the Criminal Courts Charge is estimated to generate gross cash inflows of between approximately £105 million and £185 million per annum in steady state (2023/24). The estimate of the cost of enforcement is approximately £25 million per annum in steady state.

Armed Forces

Mark Garnier: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what savings to the public purse will arise from annual pay restraint and workforce reductions in the armed forces in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Priti Patel: Savings as a result of the restructuring of the Armed Forces agreed at the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review are forecast to be £1.3bn in 2014-15 and £1.4bn in 2015-16.   Savings as a result of the Government’s pay restraint policy are forecast to be £600m in 2014-15 and £700m in 2015-16. These savings are compared against a counterfactual annual pay award of 2%.

Social Workers: Recruitment

George Hollingbery: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the overall budget for the Care First programme was in each year of that programme.

Priti Patel: Care First was funded as part of the Young Person’s Guarantee. The final budget allocation for Care First was £75m across 2009/10 and 2010/11. The Young Person’s Guarantee was replaced by the Youth Contract.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Overseas Territories

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his environmental responsibilities are for the Overseas Territories.

James Duddridge: Territory Governments are constitutionally responsible for the protection and conservation of their natural environments. As set out in the 2012 Overseas Territories White Paper, the UK Government provides technical advice and expertise to support the Territories in meeting their environmental obligations, for example through the Darwin Plus fund and supporting environmental mainstreaming initiatives.

Cayman Islands

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has received on the Cayman Islands Environmental Protection Fund; and if he will make a statement.

James Duddridge: I have received no formal representations on the Cayman Islands' Environmental Protection Fund. The Fund, which is financed by a departure tax, is a matter for the Cayman Islands. Expenditure from the Fund is approved by the Finance Committee of the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly and disbursements fall under the control of the Minister of Finance.

Pitcairn Islands

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the timetable is for the adoption of a marine protected area in Pitcairn.

James Duddridge: We continue to discuss the merits and mechanisms of a potential Marine Protected Area (MPA) around Pitcairn with interested parties. HMG is an enthusiastic supporter of MPAs, having established MPAs in the British Indian Ocean Territory and South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands. An MPA will be considered where there are scientific reasons for it, there is effective enforcement and monitoring capability and the costs are not prohibitive.

Kenya

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Kenyan government about the massacre of bus passengers on 22 November 2014.

James Duddridge: We have an ongoing dialogue with the Kenyan Government on security and counter-terrorism. The Foreign Secretary most recently discussed security with the Kenyan Foreign Minister in Copenhagen on 19 November. We will continue to support Kenya’s efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the appalling recent attacks in accordance with international law.